"NEW" marketing
-
Things seem to look good at the moment. NEW (the album) is currently #130 on the iTunes charts, which is not too bad considering we're over a month away from its debut. Additionally, its having a pretty good showing on Amazon's pre-orders. The pre-sales on both iTunes and Amazon should get a healthy boost from Paul's iHeartMusic festival performance and possibly from a good music video if it goes viral. Overall, I think MPL has done a decent job so far with promotion, yet I feel a little uneasy about how the album will perform in the charts. It certainly doesn't help that his album, which has been labeled "Rock" by iTunes, will be dropping on the same day as Pearl Jam's - another Rock group - new album. We don't need NEW to be competing with another album from an established act of the same genre on its very first day.
So, here's my take (and I'd love to hear you're thoughts on this)... The album's performance is largely dependent on three factors: The artist, his team, and his fans. Paul and his team is responsible for crafting an effective marketing campaign strategy that makes a large swath of the music-buying populace aware of the album, even if they don't intend to buy it. Visibility and recognition is key. Personally, I think that Paul/MPL should do two seperate things, specifically in the last two weeks before the album drops, to build concentrated momentum: 1. Something very surprising (e.g. a publicity stunt) 2. Something simple and effective The former should be big enough to trend on Google's/Yahoo top 10 searches. MPL could be very creative about what exactly this attention-grabbing scheme could be without resorting to Lady Gaga-levels of shock value. (Feel free to pitch your own ideas and suggestions on this). The latter should be minimalistic and social media-based. The prime example of this is the success that the Bowie camp had with that simple white square featured on his The Next Day album. Paul could do something similar to this incorporating the lines on the album cover. The point is that it should be simple enough for everyone to be able to contribute and replicate. Maybe MPL could even turn it into an online competition with the winner receiving a free signed copy of the album. In addition to these elements, the final and possibly most crucial aspect of effective album marketing is often the most overlooked and underutilized: the fans. If there's one thing that Paul showed us with this single, its that he could still produce songs that people across generational barriers can all love and get into. I have the feeling that this album will have something in it for everyone. We, as fans, could mobilize with the efficiency and organization of a political campaign: telling our friends/family in person, sharing links online on specifically timed days, and so on. Older Beatles fans need to be convinced that this latest sound effort is worth getting and younger listeners should be convinced that its content is just as exciting as its title and producers, despite and/or regardless of the age of the artists himself. Consider the effect we could have if we each convinced just 10 people to buy the album: we have increased our own individual buying power by a factor of 10. This obviously boosts Paul's charting prospects (for the album at least) and I really feel he has a shot to pull off a #1, at least for the crucial first week. All of us can play a huge role in getting him there (in conjunction with whatever MPL is planning). Anyway, enough rambling! 
What do you think of these ideas? What are your own? ***** One last thing: to be clear, this thread is to be exclusively focused on the marketing and promotion of the album. Please keep off topic general album discussion to its respective thread. 
-
Well for a start Paul could have played at least a couple of "new" songs in the current set list, i thought that was bloody obvious.
I'm not sure Paul will ever recover commercial ground no matter what he does. One thing i don't want him to do is prostitute himself on high rating TV shows like X Factor, it doesn't work for him, plus Paul's weakened voice just makes things worse than better. Flowers In The Dirt, Off The Ground, Flaming Pie and Chaos had TV specials to promote them, but that didn't really result in massive record sales, most have given up on him unfortunately. -
I'm not so sure marketing even matters anymore to anyone except the record label. I firmly believe Paul is far more interested in making the product than selling it. I also think at this point in his career, we allow him that luxury. He's earned that right. I'd much rather he make his music that way too. Let him please himself before he tries to purposely make a commercial product. That angle is left to the producers he chooses. We, his core fan base will always be able to find a way to enjoy anything he does. Yes, even if he sang the phone book.... I'd personally like to see as much marketing as possible, as it always charges me up, for the release. But, in the end, I really don't think it matters much to Paul. We the fans, hungrily consume any dish he is cooking up.
-
Mr. Spock:
Things seem to look good at the moment. NEW (the album) is currently #130 on the iTunes charts, which is not too bad considering we're over a month away from its debut. Additionally, its having a pretty good showing on Amazon's pre-orders. The pre-sales on both iTunes and Amazon should get a healthy boost from Paul's iHeartMusic festival performance and possibly from a good music video if it goes viral. Overall, I think MPL has done a decent job so far with promotion, yet I feel a little uneasy about how the album will perform in the charts. It certainly doesn't help that his album, which has been labeled "Rock" by iTunes, will be dropping on the same day as Pearl Jam's - another Rock group - new album. We don't need NEW to be competing with another album from an established act of the same genre on its very first day.
So, here's my take (and I'd love to hear you're thoughts on this)... The album's performance is largely dependent on three factors: The artist, his team, and his fans. Paul and his team is responsible for crafting an effective marketing campaign strategy that makes a large swath of the music-buying populace aware of the album, even if they don't intend to buy it. Visibility and recognition is key. Personally, I think that Paul/MPL should do two seperate things, specifically in the last two weeks before the album drops, to build concentrated momentum: 1. Something very surprising (e.g. a publicity stunt) 2. Something simple and effective The former should be big enough to trend on Google's/Yahoo top 10 searches. MPL could be very creative about what exactly this attention-grabbing scheme could be without resorting to Lady Gaga-levels of shock value. (Feel free to pitch your own ideas and suggestions on this). The latter should be minimalistic and social media-based. The prime example of this is the success that the Bowie camp had with that simple white square featured on his The Next Day album. Paul could do something similar to this incorporating the lines on the album cover. The point is that it should be simple enough for everyone to be able to contribute and replicate. Maybe MPL could even turn it into an online competition with the winner receiving a free signed copy of the album. In addition to these elements, the final and possibly most crucial aspect of effective album marketing is often the most overlooked and underutilized: the fans. If there's one thing that Paul showed us with this single, its that he could still produce songs that people across generational barriers can all love and get into. I have the feeling that this album will have something in it for everyone. We, as fans, could mobilize with the efficiency and organization of a political campaign: telling our friends/family in person, sharing links online on specifically timed days, and so on. Older Beatles fans need to be convinced that this latest sound effort is worth getting and younger listeners should be convinced that its content is just as exciting as its title and producers, despite and/or regardless of the age of the artists himself. Consider the effect we could have if we each convinced just 10 people to buy the album: we have increased our own individual buying power by a factor of 10. This obviously boosts Paul's charting prospects (for the album at least) and I really feel he has a shot to pull off a #1, at least for the crucial first week. All of us can play a huge role in getting him there (in conjunction with whatever MPL is planning). Anyway, enough rambling! What do you think of these ideas? What are your own? ***** One last thing: to be clear, this thread is to be exclusively focused on the marketing and promotion of the album. Please keep off topic general album discussion to its respective thread. Like Boycie said, play songs from "New" in your concerts. These are your fans and give them a chance to hear them and become potential buyers. McCartney also needs to talk about them before doing them and not just the old standard line this is from my latest CD. I am sure there is some interesting story about recording these songs with the different producers. If McCartney goes on TV, don't perform. Just do interview about the current CD and basically tell host in pre-interivew that is all you want to talk about in interview. Do the typical music mag interviews like RS and interviews with radio stations in big markets like NY and LA. How about some huge billboard in Times Square with cover of "New" - jk lol.
-
yankeefan7:
Mr. Spock:
Things seem to look good at the moment. NEW (the album) is currently #130 on the iTunes charts, which is not too bad considering we're over a month away from its debut. Additionally, its having a pretty good showing on Amazon's pre-orders. The pre-sales on both iTunes and Amazon should get a healthy boost from Paul's iHeartMusic festival performance and possibly from a good music video if it goes viral. Overall, I think MPL has done a decent job so far with promotion, yet I feel a little uneasy about how the album will perform in the charts. It certainly doesn't help that his album, which has been labeled "Rock" by iTunes, will be dropping on the same day as Pearl Jam's - another Rock group - new album. We don't need NEW to be competing with another album from an established act of the same genre on its very first day.
So, here's my take (and I'd love to hear you're thoughts on this)... The album's performance is largely dependent on three factors: The artist, his team, and his fans. Paul and his team is responsible for crafting an effective marketing campaign strategy that makes a large swath of the music-buying populace aware of the album, even if they don't intend to buy it. Visibility and recognition is key. Personally, I think that Paul/MPL should do two seperate things, specifically in the last two weeks before the album drops, to build concentrated momentum: 1. Something very surprising (e.g. a publicity stunt) 2. Something simple and effective The former should be big enough to trend on Google's/Yahoo top 10 searches. MPL could be very creative about what exactly this attention-grabbing scheme could be without resorting to Lady Gaga-levels of shock value. (Feel free to pitch your own ideas and suggestions on this). The latter should be minimalistic and social media-based. The prime example of this is the success that the Bowie camp had with that simple white square featured on his The Next Day album. Paul could do something similar to this incorporating the lines on the album cover. The point is that it should be simple enough for everyone to be able to contribute and replicate. Maybe MPL could even turn it into an online competition with the winner receiving a free signed copy of the album. In addition to these elements, the final and possibly most crucial aspect of effective album marketing is often the most overlooked and underutilized: the fans. If there's one thing that Paul showed us with this single, its that he could still produce songs that people across generational barriers can all love and get into. I have the feeling that this album will have something in it for everyone. We, as fans, could mobilize with the efficiency and organization of a political campaign: telling our friends/family in person, sharing links online on specifically timed days, and so on. Older Beatles fans need to be convinced that this latest sound effort is worth getting and younger listeners should be convinced that its content is just as exciting as its title and producers, despite and/or regardless of the age of the artists himself. Consider the effect we could have if we each convinced just 10 people to buy the album: we have increased our own individual buying power by a factor of 10. This obviously boosts Paul's charting prospects (for the album at least) and I really feel he has a shot to pull off a #1, at least for the crucial first week. All of us can play a huge role in getting him there (in conjunction with whatever MPL is planning). Anyway, enough rambling! What do you think of these ideas? What are your own? ***** One last thing: to be clear, this thread is to be exclusively focused on the marketing and promotion of the album. Please keep off topic general album discussion to its respective thread. Like Boycie said, play songs from "New" in your concerts. These are your fans and give them a chance to hear them and become potential buyers. McCartney also needs to talk about them before doing them and not just the old standard line this is from my latest CD. I am sure there is some interesting story about recording these songs with the different producers. If McCartney goes on TV (late Night shows), don't perform. Just do interview about the current CD and basically tell host in pre-interivew that is all you want to talk about in interview. Do the typical music mag interviews like RS and interviews with radio stations in big markets like NY and LA. How about some huge billboard in Times Square (NYC) with cover of "New" - jk lol. Personally, even if "New" is a great record I just don't see it being a huge hit. I fully expect it to chart fairly high the first week or two and then drop off fairly quickly like his other most recent CD's. Fans on this board and others will be quick to buy it but the general public will probably show apathy about the CD. IMO- McCartney did everything you could think of with CHAOS (TV, concert tour, interviews etc) and even excellent critical acclaim and Grammy nominations did not really help it much.
-
Get across that the new "New" album is eclectic and diverse and exciting in its themes and subjects and styles for songs. "Publicity stunt"? Just don't pull a Kardashian-like obvious scheme where suddenly out of the blue Paul has a big drug problem and disappears and Shevell is out looking for him (LOL). Referring to the current Lamar Odom Chloe Kardashian media uproar.
Looks like Paul's legendary status in the music biz and as a premiere excellent songwriter and musician should be enough all on its own to get people excited, true music lovers all worked up...or is that too idealistic and optimistic a stance. Paul sported an especially great look at the White House honors concert for his winning the Gershwin songwriting prize. The hair, the suit, he looked so cute that night. He could go for that same look. -
All I would say is there'd better be some serious ramping up this week in the marketing. Some kind of unique performance would be good, as he did with the David Letterman marquee-top show, or even something intimate like his little acoustic thing with Parkinson, which was utterly charming, but be sure to do a new song or two! According to the leaked MPL schedule, there were supposed to be more live shows in addition to the Japanese ones coming in November, but in his recent Philly radio interview it sounded like that may or may not happen, beyond the iHeartRadio thing. So far, they've made it vague as to whether the song "New" is actually a single or not. No physical single (other than the promo CD) is available, and on iTunes you can get it free by pre-ordering the album. Not exactly a strategy for mainstream success for the song. Even Paul's official site refers to it as a "track" and not a single. Is it possible that these cover versions on YouTube are part of some kind of viral strategy to make him look cool to young people? We've all seen his concert videos, which show obviously-hand-picked young people dancing and singing in the audience at times. Were all these "New" covers really done spontaneously? (That one with the teenage kids in shadow just looks so professionally edited to me.) Am I being too cynical?
-
I'd wondered about that, too.
-
BOYCIE:
Well for a start Paul could have played at least a couple of "new" songs in the current set list, i thought that was bloody obvious.
I'm not sure Paul will ever recover commercial ground no matter what he does. One thing i don't want him to do is prostitute himself on high rating TV shows like X Factor, it doesn't work for him, plus Paul's weakened voice just makes things worse than better. Flowers In The Dirt, Off The Ground, Flaming Pie and Chaos had TV specials to promote them, but that didn't really result in massive record sales, most have given up on him unfortunately.I believe Paul has already hinted that he will be playing some of the new stuff on the road, which is great! Also, I agree that Paul shouldn't reduce himself to doing X Factor-type shows, but (as we've seen on the road and in music festivals) this seems to be a good year for performances. Logic dictates he'll do better performing his latest songs than earlier ones anyway, so I'm not particularly worried about the quality of his voice.
-
Just release the album and let it speak for itself. What good is it if you have to use tactics anyway? If the album is great, it will permeate and penetrate the culture just as Sgt Pepper did in the sixties. Being "popular" and having a fixation on the culture is not quality - leave that to the current crop of teens; Allow Dylan, Rod Stewart, et al, to use the promotional maneuvers to energize their output. McCartney is bigger than that. Again, I say, just release it and let it do its thing. If pop culture doesn't have ears to hear, let them eat cake. I rest my case.
-
He could put signs up all over London and New York that say "Happy Halloween! NEW Is Out If You Want It"
-
SusyLuvsPaul:
Get across that the new "New" album is eclectic and diverse and exciting in its themes and subjects and styles for songs. "Publicity stunt"? Just don't pull a Kardashian-like obvious scheme where suddenly out of the blue Paul has a big drug problem and disappears and Shevell is out looking for him (LOL). Referring to the current Lamar Odom Chloe Kardashian media uproar.
Looks like Paul's legendary status in the music biz and as a premiere excellent songwriter and musician should be enough all on its own to get people excited, true music lovers all worked up...or is that too idealistic and optimistic a stance?To clarify my "publicity stunt" statement: I didn't mean that he personally does something cheap just for attention, which would probably backfire horribly. Some examples of publicity stunts that I had in mind which would be more doable and suitable are: - A "flash mob" doing a well-choreographed performance of "New" in a public place with high visibility (e.g. Time Square, Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, somewhere in Hollywood, etc), which would not even need to involve him - A completely unannounced surprise performance of maybe 3-5 songs, mostly, if not all, from the album, in another high-visibility location (e.g. Central Park) with the spontaneity of the Apple Rooftop concert - Having some well-known artist do an outdoor art piece that resembles the album cover with some kind of pop-art twist I think any or all of these things would be great to garner publicity worthy of his name. Unfortunately, media is more inclined to cover younger artists than him, so trickling out these stunts could force them to cover him. Lets get even more young people to ask "who's Paul McCartney?" and they'll be glad they found out once they heard the album...
As to just relying on his own name: personally I think it will obviously work with his core fanbase (us), but that will only get him so far. He should still do more and, as another member previously mentioned on this thread, its fun to see Paul publicity in full swing! This could be a very exciting opportunity to grow his base even more. -
Mr. Spock, I think you need to send your resume to MPL! Unfortunately, many young people probably think Paul is Jesse McCartney's grandfather!
-
Nancy R:
Mr. Spock, I think you need to send your resume to MPL! Unfortunately, many young people probably think Paul is Jesse McCartney's grandfather!
LOL (on both counts!)
-
Nancy R:
Mr. Spock, I think you need to send your resume to MPL! Unfortunately, many young people probably think Paul is Jesse McCartney's grandfather!
Unfortunately, the young people that do know him "love" him as a Beatle and or rock icon. This does not translate into them buying new McCartney CDs.
-
Mr. Spock:
SusyLuvsPaul:
Get across that the new "New" album is eclectic and diverse and exciting in its themes and subjects and styles for songs. "Publicity stunt"? Just don't pull a Kardashian-like obvious scheme where suddenly out of the blue Paul has a big drug problem and disappears and Shevell is out looking for him (LOL). Referring to the current Lamar Odom Chloe Kardashian media uproar.
Looks like Paul's legendary status in the music biz and as a premiere excellent songwriter and musician should be enough all on its own to get people excited, true music lovers all worked up...or is that too idealistic and optimistic a stance?To clarify my "publicity stunt" statement: I didn't mean that he personally does something cheap just for attention, which could backfire horribly. Some examples of publicity stunts that I had in mind and would be more doable and suitable are: - A "flash mob" performing "New" in a public place with high visibility (e.g. Time Square, Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, somewhere in Hollywood, etc), which would not even need to involve him - A completely unannounced surprise performance of maybe 3-5 songs in another high-visibility place (e.g. Central Park) with the spontaneity of the Apple Rooftop concert - Having some well-known artist do an outdoor art piece that resembles the album cover with some kind pop-art twist I think any or all of these things would be great to garner publicity worthy of his name. Unfortunately, media is more inclined to cover younger artists than him, so trickling out these stunts could force them to cover him. Lets get even more young people to ask "who's Paul McCartney?" and they'll be glad they found out once they heard the album...
As to just relying on his own name: personally I think it will obviously work with his core fanbase (us), but that will only get him so far. He should still do more and, as another member previously mentioned, its fun to see Paul publicity in full swing! This could be a very exciting opportunity to grow his base even more.Did you like my Times Square giant billboard idea I mentioned above - lol.
-
yankeefan7:
Mr. Spock:
SusyLuvsPaul:
Get across that the new "New" album is eclectic and diverse and exciting in its themes and subjects and styles for songs. "Publicity stunt"? Just don't pull a Kardashian-like obvious scheme where suddenly out of the blue Paul has a big drug problem and disappears and Shevell is out looking for him (LOL). Referring to the current Lamar Odom Chloe Kardashian media uproar.
Looks like Paul's legendary status in the music biz and as a premiere excellent songwriter and musician should be enough all on its own to get people excited, true music lovers all worked up...or is that too idealistic and optimistic a stance?To clarify my "publicity stunt" statement: I didn't mean that he personally does something cheap just for attention, which could backfire horribly. Some examples of publicity stunts that I had in mind and would be more doable and suitable are: - A "flash mob" performing "New" in a public place with high visibility (e.g. Time Square, Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, somewhere in Hollywood, etc), which would not even need to involve him - A completely unannounced surprise performance of maybe 3-5 songs in another high-visibility place (e.g. Central Park) with the spontaneity of the Apple Rooftop concert - Having some well-known artist do an outdoor art piece that resembles the album cover with some kind pop-art twist I think any or all of these things would be great to garner publicity worthy of his name. Unfortunately, media is more inclined to cover younger artists than him, so trickling out these stunts could force them to cover him. Lets get even more young people to ask "who's Paul McCartney?" and they'll be glad they found out once they heard the album...
As to just relying on his own name: personally I think it will obviously work with his core fanbase (us), but that will only get him so far. He should still do more and, as another member previously mentioned, its fun to see Paul publicity in full swing! This could be a very exciting opportunity to grow his base even more.Did you like my Times Square giant billboard idea I mentioned above - lol.
Actually, I did!
To be honest, I know you meant it as a joke, but that's the kind of stuff that should be taken seriously by the marketing team. Now, what makes it unlikely is the steep cost to do such a thing. A "flash mob" in TS, on the other hand, is free publicity that is bound to be recorded by passers by and uploaded to YouTube, which gives it the chance to go viral -
Cord:
Just release the album and let it speak for itself. What good is it if you have to use tactics anyway? If the album is great, it will permeate and penetrate the culture just as Sgt Pepper did in the sixties. Being "popular" and having a fixation on the culture is not quality - leave that to the current crop of teens; Allow Dylan, Rod Stewart, et al, to use the promotional maneuvers to energize their output. McCartney is bigger than that. Again, I say, just release it and let it do its thing. If pop culture doesn't have ears to hear, let them eat cake. I rest my case.
Hipsters didn't gravitate to Ram because of any marketing scheme or promotional event. They started buying it because it's a great album. If New is good, they will come. I do offer this marketing scheme: Price the album affordably. Make the standard version $8 and the deluxe version $10. -
I don't trust in marketing, I think that if one thing is no so good, then needs a big merchandising campaign. I think NEW will be a good album, let's the quality speak for itself. I hope Paul will include the NEW songs in his gigs, that's could be a great publicity.
-
Well, I don't see it as realistic to expect that an album by Paul McCartney with proven hit-making producers like Paul Epworth and Mark Ronson is NOT going to be promoted out the wazoo. The album is already slated to be released as a regular CD, a deluxe CD, a Japanese CD with bonus tracks, a vinyl LP, and an iTunes version with bonus tracks. He's performing at a festival headlined by Justin Timberlake, and he's touring Japan. This is already past the point of just putting it out there, and I'm sure there's much more to come. And "Ram" did have "hip" promotion, with those "Brung To Ewe By" radio spots.
.jpg "Steve"){kind=avatar}
